In UK (United Kingdom) rules, competitors aim to shoot the small “kill” zone that forms part of a larger metal faceplate. These face plates are often shaped to resemble small game animals, although there is currently a move towards simple geometric shapes. On most competition targets, the hit zone forms the end of a short lever that tips the faceplate backwards when successfully hit. These targets have to be reset by tugging on a length of cord attached to the faceplate above the hinge.

Targets are shot from open “gates” in a firing line, and are divided into “lanes” of two targets each. Many competitions impose a time restriction of 2 minutes to shoot both targets after a competitor first looks through his or her sights.

Targets may be placed at any distance between 10 yards (9 m) and 55 yards (50.3 m) from the firing line. Targets are often placed at about the same height as the shooter, but it is not uncommon for them to appear high up banks or in trees, or down steep slopes.

The hit or “kill” zone of a target is always circular, and nominally 40mm in diameter, although “reducer” targets as small as 25 mm diameter may be employed for seated shots up to 35 yards (32 m).15mm kill zones at close range are also becoming popular. The targets are painted with the kill a contrasting color to aid visibility, although the paint is quickly removed by hits during competitions, making it harder to distinguish.

The majority of shots may be taken in any stance, but the seated position is the most popular due to its stability and often the need to see over logs or long grass that would preclude prone shooting. Most competitors carry a small beanbag or cushion to sit on while shooting and they are often used as a protective rest for guns while competitors wait their turn to shoot.

In competition, 20% of the lanes will be designated as compulsory standing or kneeling, and there must be as even a split as possible between the two. Most competitions have 40 targets arranged in 20 lanes, so it is usual to have 2 standing lanes and 2 kneeling lanes. Grand Prix events have 25 lanes, so there will be 2 lanes of one position and 3 of the other. Standing or kneeling targets must be no more than 45 yards (41 m) from the firing line.

Points are scored with 1 for a hit (resulting in the faceplate falling), and 0 for a miss (whether it strikes the surrounding faceplate, misses it, or “splits” on the edge of the kill but fails to down the target). The highest score of a competition forms the benchmark for all the other scores – they are calculated as a percentage of this score rather than the total number of targets. This means that competitors attending a shoot on a windy day will not necessarily affect their average score over a season, as the highest score of the day will probably be lower.

Members of the British Field Target Association (BFTA) are graded according to their performance every six months. Your average percentage score over this period determines which of the four grades you are given – (in ascending order of skill) C, B, A and AA. Prizes at shoots are awarded by grade, so less experienced shooters still have a chance of winning a trophy if they perform well.

Pistols are far less common than rifles in FT, and they are shot in special events designed to accommodate the differences in shooting style.

In the UK, 0.177 inch (4.5 mm) caliber rifles are the most popular, as the higher velocity (relative to a .22” rifle of the same power) of the pellets means they fly with a flatter trajectory over the distances involved. One downside is that .177” pellets are very light and can be affected more by light crosswinds than the heavier pellets of a .22” (5.5 mm) rifle, in cases where .177 pellets and .22 pellets are traveling at the same initial muzzle velocity.

Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) rifles are more popular than spring guns as the much lower recoil provides more confidence in aim for most people. There are some FT shooters who compete at a very high level with a spring gun, and a well-engineered gun, shot with some skill will be no less accurate than a PCP. There are some “dedicated” FT designs available, with the main features being a deep stock or adjustable platform ("Hamster") to rest on the knee while shooting seated, a high or adjustable cheek-piece to suit the large telescopic sights, and often an adjustable butt or butt hook. Many experienced shooters have chosen to use made-to-measure custom stocks for their rifles, and there are a small number of stockers in the UK who compete in FT and have a good understanding of the specific requirements of the sport.

Telescopic sights are favored for obvious reasons – it is impossible to see the kill zone of the furthest targets clearly with the naked eye. Another advantage of high-magnification scopes is their ability to act as a simple range-finding tool. At very high magnifications, most scopes have a very shallow depth of field, and one can accurately focus on a series of targets at known distances and mark the scope for future reference. In competition you simply focus on the target and deduce the distance from the marks you made on the scope’s focus control.
Some scopes use a side-wheel parallax adjustment to control focus (rather than a camera-like focus ring on the objective bell of the scope), and this allows the use of large diameter wheels to increase the distance between range markings and effectively improve ranging resolution.

Pellets from a .177 inch rifle running near the UK legal limit of 16.27 joules (12 ft.lbf) will drop around 11 cm over 55 yards (50 m) – more than enough to miss the kill of a target completely – so it becomes necessary to compensate for range by adjusting the elevation of the barrel. Two common methods used are: moving the crosshairs above the center of the target by a lesser or greater degree (hold-over), often using markings on the reticle of the scope for reference, or adjusting a knob (turret) on the scope to drop the crosshairs onto the point of impact for a given range such that the pellet appears to go exactly where you point the gun (windage excepted). Competitors will often carry a small printed table of different ranges with their appropriate drop compensation or calibrate their elevation knob (often using an enlarged knob) – combined with the range-finding ability of the scopes, this allows for very accurate vertical placement of the pellets.

Wind presents probably the largest challenge for an FT shooter – while it is not too difficult to hit even the furthest targets on a perfectly still day with a little practice, mastering shooting in wind can take many years. Pellets can be blown sideways by even a light breeze. At longer distances this can start to cause misses, as the pellet will often be blown onto the faceplate if you aim centrally. In stronger winds it is not uncommon to have to aim completely off the faceplate in order to score a hit, and judging the amount of compensation to apply takes a lot of practice and experience. Head and tail winds can also have an effect on the trajectory of the pellets, causing them to hit high or low. It is common to fit a “windicator” to the barrel of the rifle – a piece of light cord with a feather on the end will provide a good indicator of general direction in light winds when it may not be entirely obvious, but it does not tell you what the wind will be doing on the way to the target. Competitors may choose to lift the reset cord of a target off the ground to get a feel for this wind – it will arc gently in a steady crosswind, and may even reveal changes in wind direction caused by nearby trees and foliage. Although many scopes have mechanical adjustment for horizontal offset, it is primarily used to ensure the rifle is shooting straight ahead in still conditions. The variable nature of the wind means it is often easier to aim off target (sometimes called “Kentucky windage” in the US) than to try to adjust the calibration of the crosshairs.

One measure of the difficulty of a field target shot is the Troyer (named after Brad Troyer). At its simplest, a Troyer is the distance to the target in yards divided by the kill zone diameter in inches. (Obviously, this can be adjusted to meters/mm by multiplying by 2.32.) Thus, if a target is at 45yds and the kill zone is 2in, the difficulty is 45/2 or 22.5T. In practice, there are additional multipliers for various conditions such as targets over 45 yards, wind, "extremely" dark/light conditions, standing/kneeling positions, and uphill/downhill shots. A typical course would have a difficulty averaging about 25T with a spread of difficulties from as low as 10T to perhaps as high as 60T. A well-designed course can be used for all field target classes although the PCP shooters will typically outscore the piston shooters. When one is practicing for a match, a good approach is to shoot at targets (whether paper or actual field targets) with a difficulty of about 20T to start. As one gets better, the difficulty is increased (either by increasing the distance or reducing the size of the kill zone) -- a good rule-of-thumb would be to increase the difficulty by 5T when one can successfully hit the target 90% of the time. Eventually, one should practice at about 45T if they expect to be competitive at local matches and 60T for national matches.

In Malta, air rifles irrespective of their power are subject to a target shooting license. The sport actually began with no power limit as FT open competitions. In 2009 the governing body for FT in Malta was passed over to MAAC. It was decided to change the policy and keep national and grading competitions within the international FT power limit of 12 ftlbs. Shooters who take this sport on the competitive edge geared up and accepted this decision and for the 1st time in 2009 a team of 8 shooters attended the world championships in South Africa. However MAAC still organizes the "open competitions up to 20 ftlbs max" to attract airgun shooters to this sport. Minimum distance is 10 m and maximum distance is 50 m. Both calibers 0.177 and 0.22 can be used. Rules follow the core rules as originally designed by BFTA. Reducers were introduced in 2009 and follow the SAAFTA regulations for reducers. There are only variations in the shoot-off procedures for national competitions that qualify shooters for the worlds.

In the Netherlands there is no limit to the power of an air rifle. Anyone above the age of 18 can legally buy one.

However, in order to comply with the World Field Target Federation rules (as well as to limit damage to the targets), Field Target in the Netherlands is shot with rifles with a maximum muzzle energy of 16.3 Joule (12 ft/lbs).

In New Zealand there is no legal maximum power limit
for ordinary air gun use, however a Firearm Licence
is now required to possess any precharged air rifle

The general guideline is that the power of an Air Rifle used in a Field Target match must not damage the targets.
All Field Target competition is "open class", and 12 ft⋅lbf (16 J) competitors participate in their own official "International" class, as do spring/piston air rifle competitors. Maximum/minimum distances are 10 m to 50 m.
Membership of NZAFTA; the RGB to WFTF, consists of eight member clubs Nationally.

In Poland the energy limit for air guns is 17 joules (air guns above this limit must be registered and may be used only on shooting ranges). Therefore, the PFTA (Polish Field Target Association) has adopted the British limit of 16.3 joules (12 ft⋅lbf) for competitions.

In Spain the maximum rifle power is the legal limit of 24.2 joules. This power allows the use of .22 caliber without problems. The range of the targets must be between 9 meters and 50 meters. "Kentucky windage" and scope adjustment are used.

In the United States, the American Airgun Field Target Association (AAFTA) rules set a maximum rifle power of 20 ft·lbf (27 J) primarily to limit damage to targets — there are no laws limiting airgun power in the United States. Individual competition rules may impose limits on power and/or other criteria at the discretion of the local match director. The increased velocity of the pellets from these higher power rifles primarily reduces the effects of distance (pellet drop) and windage (time of flight determines wind effects) but the game is, otherwise, quite similar to that of Britain and other countries.

In the US, kill zone diameters vary from a minimum of 0.375 inches (9.525 mm), to a typical kill zone diameter at distance of 1-1/2 inches (3.81 cm). Occasionally, kill zones to the maximum allowed 2 inches (5.08 cm) are used. The ranges of the targets must be between 10 yards (9.1 m) and 55 yards (50.3 m), and they are arranged in lanes of 1 to 3 targets. Kneeling and standing shots are also the norm at every match but not as large a percentage of the match as in the UK. Hunter class has also started with a very strong following.

Precision shooting at such small targets lends itself to dialing in elevation adjustments and for the most part when shooting at high power 20 ft⋅lbf (27 J) Kentucky windage a bit less of a factor than with 12 ft⋅lbf (16 J) although time-of-flight is the primary factor for windage and, while the power of guns used may be lower, lighter pellets are also used in such guns and the speed of a pellet at the muzzle is only a bit slower (7.2 grains at 825 ft/s (251 m/s) versus 10.2 grains (0.66 g) 890 ft/s (270 m/s), for example). Hence, windage is a similar problem for those shooting at either power in most instances.

In recent years, a pistol version of Field Target has taken hold in the U.S. Limited to 12 ft·lbf (16 J), this game uses the same targets as the rifle game. A pistol game is shot at shorter ranges, from 10 yards (9.1 m) and 35 yards (32.004 m), at target kill zones from .5 inch (12.7 mm) to 2 inches (5.08 cm) in diameter.

The energy limit in Hungary is 7.5 joules (5.5 foot-pounds force), all air rifles above count as a firearm and the owner must have a licence in order to have one. There is no energy limit for these rifles by law but they are used at maximum 16.3 J (12.0 ft⋅lbf) according to the international and Hungarian competition rules. The competitors with 7.5 J energy rifles shoot in their own categories only up to 40 meters. The maximal distances for the different killzone diameters are: 20 m for 15 mm, 35 m for 25 mm and 50/40 m for the 40 mm kills. Positional shots (kneeling/standing) can have reduced size killzones, too.

The weapon laws are very similar to the Hungarian laws, they also have separate categories for the 7.5 J (5.5 ft⋅lbf) rifles. They shoot only up to 25 meters but most of their killzones are 15 or 20 mm.

Estonian Weapons Act stipulates that pneumatic weapons of a caliber of up to 4.5 mm (inclusive) and irrespective of muzzle energy are in unrestricted commerce for persons of at least 18 years of age. Field Target in Estonia is shot in two international categories - PCP and Springer of up to 16.3 Joules for PCP and spring/piston rifles accordingly - and in one national HP category for pneumatic weapons with muzzle energy of up to 27 Joules. WFTF Core Rules are followed as far as the European homologated Rulebook and ENFTA shooting rules permit it.

The World Field Target Federation (WFTF) specifies and regulates World Championship, International or other major field target events.[3] The WFTF now has 32 member countries [4] spread across all 6 continents.

The location of the championships is based on rotation between the 32 member countries of the WFTF, a country via its NGB has the opportunity to decline hosting of the event in which case the opportunity to host passes onto the next member country in sequence.[4]

1.
Air gun
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Both the rifle and handgun forms typically propel metallic projectiles, either the non-spherical pellets, or the spherical BBs. Certain types of air guns may also propel arrows or darts, the first air guns were developed in the 1500s. The guns have used in hunting, sporting and warfare. Air guns use three types of power, depending on the design, spring-piston, pneumatic and compressed carbon dioxide, Air guns represent the oldest pneumatic technology. The oldest existing mechanical air gun, an air gun dating back to about 1580, is in the Livrustkammaren Museum in Stockholm. This is the time most historians recognize as the beginning of the air gun. In the 17th century, air guns, in calibers. 30–.51, were used to hunt big game deer and these air rifles were charged using a pump to fill an air reservoir and gave velocities from 650 to 1,000 feet per second. They were also used in warfare, the most recognized example being the Girandoni air rifle, at that time, they had compelling advantages over the primitive firearms of the day. For example, air guns could be discharged in wet weather and rain, moreover, they were quieter than a firearm of similar caliber, had no muzzle flash, and were smokeless. Thus, they did not disclose the shooters position or obscure the shooters view, in the hands of skilled soldiers, they gave the military a distinct advantage. France, Austria and other nations had special sniper detachments using air rifles, the Austrian 1770 model was named Windbüchse. The air reservoir was a removable, club-shaped, butt, the Windbüchse carried twenty-two.51 caliber lead balls in a tubular magazine. A skilled shooter could fire off one magazine in about thirty seconds, a shot from this air gun could penetrate an inch thick wooden board at a hundred paces, an effect roughly equal to that of a modern 9×19mm or.45 ACP caliber pistol. The celebrated Lewis and Clark Expedition carried an air gun. It held 22.46 caliber round balls in a tubular magazine mounted on the side of the barrel, the butt served as the air reservoir and had a working pressure of 800 psi. The rifle was said to be capable of 22 aimed shots per minute and had a bore of 0.452 in. One of the first commercially successful and mass-produced air guns was manufactured by the W. F and their first model air gun was called the Challenger and marketed in 1888. Their next model was the Chicago followed by the King, the Chicago model was sold by Sears, Roebuck for 73 cents in its catalog

2.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus

3.
Paralympic Games
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There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee, the Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types and these categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was an amputee and could shoot left-handed. The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Dr. Guttmans aim was to create a sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were again at the same location in 1952. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games. There have been milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960,400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the year as the Olympic Games. The Games were initially only to athletes in wheelchairs, at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries, the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city and this set a precedent that was followed in 1992,1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in 2001, and was extended through 2020

4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

5.
Game (hunting)
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Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world, in some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, as either small game or large game. Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food, the term game arises in medieval hunting terminology by the late 13th century and is particular to English, from the generic meaning of Old English gamen joy, amusement, sport, merriment. Small game includes animals, such as rabbits, pheasants. Large game includes animals like deer and bear, big game is a term sometimes used interchangeably with large game although in other contexts it refers to large, typically African, mammals which are hunted mainly for trophies in safaris. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world and this is influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted views about what can or cannot be legitimately hunted. Sometimes a distinction is made between varieties and species of a particular animal, such as wild turkey and domestic turkey. Fish caught for sport are referred to as game fish, the flesh of the animal, when butchered for consumption is often described as having a gamey flavour. This difference in taste can be attributed to the diet of the animal. In some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, a single small game licence may cover all small game species and be subject to yearly bag limits. Large game are often subject to individual licensing where a licence is required for each individual animal taken. In some parts of Africa, wild animals hunted for their meat are called bushmeat, see article for more detailed information on how this operates within the economy. In Africa, animals hunted for their pelts or ivory are sometimes referred to as the big game, also see the legal definition of game in Swaziland. South Africa has 62 species of gamebirds, including guineafowl, francolin, partridge, quail, sandgrouse, duck, geese, snipe, bustard, of the remaining 41 species,24 have shown an increase in numbers and distribution range in the last 25 years or so. The status of 14 species appears unchanged, with insufficient information being available for the three species. S. and Canada, deer are the most commonly hunted big game. Other game species include, In the PRC there is a special category called ye wei. In the UK game is defined in law by the Game Act 1831 and it is illegal to shoot game on Sundays or at night. Other that are hunted for food in the UK are specified under the Wildlife, the ban is generally considered voluntary on private lands, and few birds live away from RSPB or Forestry Commission land allegedly

6.
Pistol
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A pistol is a type of handgun. In some usage, the term refers to a subset of handguns. In other usage, the term is interchangeable with handgun, some handgun experts and dictionaries make a technical distinction that views pistols as a subset of handguns, others use the terms interchangeably. But UK/rest of Commonwealth usage does not always make this distinction, for example, the official designation of the Webley Mk VI revolver was Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No.1 Mk VI. The English word was introduced in ca.1570 from the Middle French pistolet, the etymology of the French word pistolet is disputed. The first suggestion derives the word from Czech píšťala, a type of hand-cannon used in the Hussite Wars during the 1420s, the Czech word was adopted in German as pitschale, pitschole, petsole, and variants. The second suggestion is less likely, the use of the word as a designation of a gun is not documented before 1605 in Italy, long after it was used in French, the Czech word is well documented since the Hussite wars in 1420s. Other suggestions include from Middle High German pischulle or from Middle French pistole, also it is suggested that early pistols were carried by cavalry in holsters hung from the pommel of a horses saddle. The most common types of pistol are the shot. Single shot handguns were mainly seen during the era of flintlock and musket weaponry where the pistol was loaded with a ball and fired by a flint striker. However, as technology improved, so did the single shot pistol, new operating mechanisms were created, and due to this, they are still made today. It is the oldest type of pistol, and is used to hunt wild game. Multi-barreled pistols were common during the time as single shot pistols. As designers looked for ways to increase fire rates, multiple barrels were added to all guns including pistols, one example of a multi-barreled pistol is the Ducks foot pistol, which generally had either four or eight barrels, although some 20th century models had three barrels. Around 1850, pistols such as the Jarre harmonica gun were produced that had a sliding magazine, the sliding magazine contained pinfire cartridges or speedloaders. The magazine needed to be moved manually in many designs, hence distinguishing them from semi-automatic pistols, with the development of the revolver in the 19th century, gunsmiths had finally achieved the goal of a practical capability for delivering multiple loads to one handgun barrel in quick succession. The semi-automatic pistol was the step in the development of the pistol. By avoiding multiple chambers—which need to be individually reloaded—semi-automatic pistols delivered faster rates of fire, an example of a modern blow back action semi-automatic pistol is the HK VP70

7.
Pellet (air gun)
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A pellet is a non-spherical projectile designed to be fired from an air gun. It can have a flat, round, hollow or pointed tip, from the waist back, the pellet is hollow, and flares out to full diameter when pressurized by the gun. The head, or solid part in front of the waist, is sized to fit the bore just touching the rifling. This keeps the pellet centred in the bore, while keeping the friction as low as possible, the effect of friction is used in order to keep the pellet stationary until the piston has reached the end of its travel, compressing as much air as is possible. The skirt of the pellet is thin, and made of a material, usually lead or lead alloy. When shot, the skirt will obturate to fit the bore and provide a good seal, in a smoothbore barrel, the skirt will still flare to provide a tight seal, but since there is no rifling, the pellet will not spin, and is less accurate. In most cases of type, the solid head in the front. However, this is not always the case, and some types of this nature will tumble in flight. When this happens the pellet will not leave a clean, round hole in the paper and this phenomenon is known as keyholing. Pellets are designed to travel at subsonic speeds, high velocities can cause light pellets to overly deform, or even break apart in flight. The transition from subsonic to supersonic velocities will cause almost all pellets to tumble, the closer a pellet gets to the speed of sound, the more unstable it becomes. This is a problem for high powered break-barrel and pre-charged pneumatic air rifles, a few companies have addressed this issue by manufacturing heavier than normal pellets for use in these high powered air guns. The heavier weight of these pellets ensure that they travel at speeds well below the sound barrier, resulting in less tumbling. Their weight also makes them susceptible to air resistance, and thus imparts more kinetic energy downrange. Match pellets are used for the 10 metre air rifle and 10 metre air pistol disciplines and these 4.5 mm calibre pellets have wadcutter heads, meaning the front is flat, that leave clean round holes in paper targets for easy scoring. Match pellets are offered in tins and more elaborate packagings that avoid deformation, match pellets are made of soft lead. The antimony content is used to control the hardness of the soft lead alloy and it is a very soft alloy, which makes it easy to process. Since the soft lead alloy is prone to strongly deform when striking a bullet catcher, it loses its kinetic energy

8.
Recoil
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Recoil is the backward movement of a gun when it is discharged. To apply this counter-recoiling force, modern mounted guns may employ recoil buffering comprising springs and hydraulic recoil mechanisms, early cannons used systems of ropes along with rolling or sliding friction to provide forces to slow the recoiling cannon to a stop. Recoil buffering allows the maximum counter-recoil force to be lowered so that strength limitations of the gun mount are not exceeded, however, the same pressures acting on the base of the projectile are acting on the rear face of the gun chamber, accelerating the gun rearward during firing. This results in the required counter-recoiling force being proportionally lower, modern cannons also employ muzzle brakes very effectively to redirect some of the propellant gasses rearward after projectile exit. This provides a force to the barrel, allowing the buffering system. The same physics affecting recoil in mounted guns and cannons applies to hand-held guns, hands, arms and shoulders have considerable strength and elasticity for this purpose, up to certain practical limits. For this reason, establishing recoil safety standards for small arms remains challenging, a change in momentum of a mass requires a force, according to Newtons first law, known as the law of inertia, inertia simply being another term for mass. That force, applied to a mass, creates an acceleration, according to Newtons second law, the law of momentum -- changing the velocity of the mass changes its momentum. It is important to understand at this point that velocity is not simply speed, velocity is the speed of a mass in a particular direction. In a very technical sense, speed is a scalar, a magnitude, in summation, the total momentum of the system equals zero, surprisingly just as it did before the trigger was pulled. There are two conservation laws at work when a gun is fired, conservation of momentum and conservation of energy, recoil is explained by the law of conservation of momentum, and so it is easier to discuss it separately from energy. The nature of the process is determined by the force of the expanding gases in the barrel upon the gun. It is also determined by the force applied to the gun. The recoil force only acts during the time that the ejecta are still in the barrel of the gun, except for the case of zero-recoil, the counter-recoil force is smaller than the recoil force but lasts for a longer time. Since the recoil force and the force are not matched. In the zero-recoil case, the two forces are matched and the gun will not move when fired. In most cases, a gun is very close to a free-recoil condition, an example of near zero-recoil would be a gun securely clamped to a massive or well-anchored table, or supported from behind by a massive wall. For example, placing the butt of a large caliber gun directly against a wall, the recoil of a firearm, whether large or small, is a result of the law of conservation of momentum

9.
Stock (firearms)
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Stocks are also found on crossbows though a crossbow stock would be more properly referred to as a tiller. The stock provides a means for the shooter to support the device. The stock also transmits recoil into the shooters body, the term stock in reference to firearms dates to 1571 is derived from the Germanic word stoc, meaning tree trunk, referring to the wooden nature of the gunstock. Early hand cannons used a simple stick fitted into a socket in the end to provide a handle. The modern gunstock shape began to evolve with the introduction of the arquebus, a matchlock with a longer barrel and an actual lock mechanism, unlike the hand-applied match of the hand cannon. Firing a hand cannon requires careful application of the match while simultaneously aiming, with both hands available to aim, the arquebus could be braced with the shoulder, giving rise to the basic gunstock shape that has survived for over 500 years. This greatly improved the accuracy of the arquebus, to a level that would not be surpassed until the advent of rifled barrels, techniques for gunstock hand weapons are being revived by martial arts such as Okichitaw. A gunstock is broadly divided into two parts, the rear portion is the butt and front portion is the fore-end. The butt is further divided into the comb, heel, toe, the stock pictured is a thumbhole style. The most basic breakdown of types is into one-piece and two piece stocks. A one piece stock is a unit from butt to fore-end. Two piece stocks use a piece for the butt and fore-end, such as that commonly found on break open shotguns. Traditionally, two stocks were easier to make, since finding a wood blank suitable for a long one piece stock is harder than finding short blanks for a two piece stock. The grip area is one that varies widely, the semi-grip stock is perhaps the most common sporting stock, with a steeper angle cut into the stock to provide a more diagonal angle for the trigger hand. Modern target style stocks have moved towards a fuller, more vertical grip, though built into the rather than made as a separate piece. Anschütz stocks, for example, use a vertical grip. Sliding or folding stocks are often seen on military-grade weapons and their civilian-derived arms, a collapsible stock makes the weapon more compact for storage or transport, but is usually deployed before shooting for better control. These stocks are used on combat shotguns like the Franchi SPAS-12 to allow the stock to collapse when not in use

10.
Telescopic sight
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A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point. Telescopic sights are used all types of systems that require accurate aiming but are most commonly found on firearms. Other types of sights are iron sights, reflector sights, the optical components may be combined with optoelectronics to form a night scope. The first experiments directed to give shooters optical aiming aids go back to the early 17th century, for centuries different optical aiming aids and primitive predecessors of telescopic sights were created that had practical or performance limitations. The first documented telescopic rifle sight was invented between 1835 and 1840, in 1855, William Malcolm of Syracuse, NY began producing his own sight. Malcolm used a design incorporating achromatic lenses like those used in telescopes. They were between three and twenty magnification, malcolms and those made by L. M. Amidon of Vermont were the standard during the Civil War. Still other telescopic sights of the same period were the Davidson. An early practical refractor telescope based telescopic sight was built in 1880 by August Fiedler, later telescopic sights with extra long eye relief became available for handgun and scout rifle use. A historic example of a sight with a long eye relief is the German ZF41 which was used during World War II on Karabiner 98k rifles. An early example of a man portable telescopic sight for low visibility/night use is the Zielgerät 1229, the ZG1229 Vampir was a Generation 0 active infrared night vision device developed for the Wehrmacht for the StG44 assault rifle, intended primarily for night use. The issuing of the ZG1229 Vampir system to the military started in 1944, Telescopic sights are classified in terms of the optical magnification and the objective lens diameter, e. g. 10×50. This would denote 10 times magnification with a 50 mm objective lens, in general terms, larger objective lens diameters, due to their ability to gather larger amounts of light, provide a larger exit pupil and hence provide a brighter image at the eyepiece. On fixed magnification sights the magnification power and objective diameter should be chosen on the basis of the intended use, there are also telescopic sights with variable magnification. The magnification can be varied by manually operating a zoom mechanism, variable sights offer more flexibility regarding shooting at varying ranges, targets and light conditions and offer a relative wide field of view at lower magnification settings. The syntax for variable sights is the following, minimal magnification – maximum magnification × objective lens, for example, 3–9×40. Confusingly, some older telescopic sights, mainly of German or other European manufacture, have a different classification where the part of the designation refers to light gathering power

11.
Depth of field
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In some cases, it may be desirable to have the entire image sharp, and a large DOF is appropriate. In other cases, a small DOF may be more effective, in cinematography, a large DOF is often called deep focus, and a small DOF is often called shallow focus. Precise focus is possible at one distance, at that distance. At any other distance, a point object is defocused, and will produce a blur spot shaped like the aperture, when this circular spot is sufficiently small, it is indistinguishable from a point, and appears to be in focus, it is rendered as acceptably sharp. The acceptable circle of confusion is influenced by visual acuity, viewing conditions, the increase of the circle diameter with defocus is gradual, so the limits of depth of field are not hard boundaries between sharp and unsharp. For 35 mm motion pictures, the area on the film is roughly 22 mm by 16 mm. The limit of tolerable error was traditionally set at 0.05 mm diameter, while for 16 mm film, where the size is half as large. More modern practice for 35 mm productions set the circle of confusion limit at 0.025 mm, for full-frame 35mm still photography, the circle of confusion is usually chosen to be about 1/30 mm. Many sources propose CoC limits as a fraction of the film format diagonal, the three formats above at fraction 1/1500 would use 0.029,0.056, and 0.017 mm. Traditional depth-of-field formulas and tables assume equal circles of confusion for near and far objects, the loss of detail in distant objects may be particularly noticeable with extreme enlargements. Achieving this additional sharpness in distant objects usually requires focusing beyond the hyperfocal distance, with this approach, foreground objects cannot always be made perfectly sharp, but the loss of sharpness in near objects may be acceptable if recognizability of distant objects is paramount. Other authors have taken the position, maintaining that slight unsharpness in foreground objects is usually more disturbing than slight unsharpness in distant parts of a scene. The combination of length, subject distance, and format size defines magnification at the film / sensor plane. DOF is determined by subject magnification at the film / sensor plane, for a given f-number, increasing the magnification, either by moving closer to the subject or using a lens of greater focal length, decreases the DOF, decreasing magnification increases DOF. For a given magnification, increasing the f-number increases the DOF. If the original image is enlarged to make the final image, when focus is set to the hyperfocal distance, the DOF extends from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity, and the DOF is the largest possible for a given f-number. The comparative DOFs of two different format sizes depend on the conditions of the comparison, the DOF for the smaller format can be either more than or less than that for the larger format. In the discussion that follows, it is assumed that the images from both formats are the same size, are viewed from the same distance, and are judged with the same circle of confusion criterion

12.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore

A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is an optical sighting device that is based on a refracting telescope. …

View through a 4x rifle scope.

Telescopic sight (German made ZF Ajack 4×90 (4×38 in modern terminology)) for the World War II pattern Swedish sniper rifle m/1941.

A Swift model 687M variable power rifle scope with parallax compensation (the ring around the objective lens is used for making parallax adjustments).

A typical (stadiametric) rangefinding reticle used by military snipers. The Mil-dots can be seen on the cross hairs. The four horizontal bars over the horizontal line are also intended for (quick) ranging purposes.

A shooting range or firing range or archery range or pistol range or rifle range or shooting gallery or shooting ground …

An outdoor shooting range with a sheltered shooting stand and several other unsheltered stands. The targets are placed at the foot of the mountain, which the photo is taken from. This range is in use by both civilians and by the Swedish ArmyNorrbotten Regiment.

Aerial view of a shooting range in Cuxhaven-Altenbruch, Germany (2012)